The present invention relates to a magnetic head for magnetic modulation which is used in a photo-magnetic recording device to implement magnetic modulation recording.
A magnetic head for magnetic modulation which is used in a photo-magnetic recording device to implement magnetic modulation recording generally has a support structure as shown in FIG. 4. Specifically, as with a floating type magnetic head for use in typical magnetic disk devices, a magnetic head 200 is structured such that a slider 5 incorporating a magnetic core therein is joined to a flexure 4 to which a load beam 2 is attached.
When the above support structure of the magnetic head 200 in the prior art is employed, the distance from a tip end of the load beam to the sliding surface of the slider (hereinafter referred to as a slider mounting height) is currently on the order of 1 mm in a floating type magnetic head for use in typical magnetic disk devices. Meanwhile, the slider mounting height of the magnetic head 200 for magnetic modulation to be employed in a photo-magnetic recording device must be on the order of 2.5 mm or more because of use of a cartridge disk. In order to provide the required slider mounting height, if the thickness of the slider 5 is merely increased, the slider 5 becomes much thicker than a conventional floating type magnetic head. Accordingly, while the point at which lifting force is acting on the slider remains fixed as it is, the center of gravity of the slider is shifted upwards (away from the load beam 2 and flexure 4), whereby the slider is prone to imbalance during operations of head access. This may result in a danger that the slider is so greatly inclined in the direction of head access as to cause a head crush (the slider strikes a surface of the disk). With the above arrangement, therefore, it is practically impossible to achieve high-speed access. As an alternative, if the sizes of other dimensions are also increased along with the thickness of the slider, the center of gravity is not changed with respect to the acting point of the lifting force and the floating stability is reserved. This could diminish the danger of the head crush. However, because the slider weight is increased in proportion to the third power of its outer dimension, the magnetic head becomes too heavy to achieve high-speed access.